Reconstruction Of Black Manhood In A Lesson Before Dying

Because of the lasting influence of slavery in history and the pervading racial discrimination in reality,African Americans males are trapped in a crisis of manhood.Thus,the reconstruction of black manhood has long been a major theme and it even forms a writing tradition in the novels by black Americans.Among the most outstanding contemporary writers of this tradition is Ernest Gaines(1933-)in African American literature.A Lesson Before Dying(1993),one of Gaines's masterpieces,is considered as a memorable lesson of how to die with self-esteem and courage on the part of Jefferson.The novel has inspired a large number of studies by critics from cultural criticism to analyze the themes concerning communal responsibility,the truth of myth and construction of manhood.Many scholars associated the crisis of manhood with gender relation and cultural tradition.These studies are helpful for readers to understand the novel and its themes.Black manhood in this thesis inherits reasonable notions of traditional manhood and meanwhile abandons such negative factors as hegemony and violence,focusing more on mental growth.The thesis will analyze the obstacles imposed on black males against their manhood construction and explore how black males rebuild up black manhood in a social context dominated by racism and white culture.Based on manhood theory,the thesis holds that black manhood is built on the realization of spiritual fulfillment concerning self-esteem and courage especially in face of death.Black males have long been seen as animals without soul,but Jefferson's mental transformation further subverts the stereotypes of black males.As the novel shows,Jefferson,the protagonist,finally manages to regain inner strength so that he bravely faces death and appears as a symbolic person who breaks away from physical bondage and obtains spiritual liberation in the white-dominated society.